Food waste collections to begin

Food waste will be collected from all households in the Cotswolds from April.

Wheeled bins or beige refuse bags and re-useable cardboard sacks will be delivered along with information packs and collection calendars on Monday.

The food scraps will be composted along with garden waste that is also being picked up locally.

Collections have begun for households in and around the villages of Birdlip, Cowley and Coberley and will begin across the whole district on 21 April.

Reduce landfill waste

"We are very encouraged by the first collections under the new service arrangements," said Cotswold District Council waste manager Scott Williams.

"By and large, they demonstrated that the residents of Birdlip, Cowley and Coberley understand both how and why the waste service is changing.

"With the help of residents, we are confident we will be able to reduce landfill waste by up to a quarter and significantly increase the proportion of their rubbish that is either recycled or composted."

The new service consists of:

A weekly collection of food waste for composting

An optional charged-for weekly collection of garden waste for composting

A new fortnightly collection of card and cardboard for recycling

The continuation of the current fortnightly collection of paper, glass, cans/tins and empty aerosol cans for recycling

The collection of non-recyclable waste fortnightly in grey wheeled bins or in council-supplied beige bin bags